The Plantation Tahitian Room, Moline, IL (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

RC Ragbag Comics Member The shores of Lake Michigan Joined: Feb 24, 2009 Posts: 212	RC Ragbag Comics Posted posted on Sat, Feb 20, 2016 12:37 PM A friend of mine sent me this excellent interior photo of the Tahitian Room at the Plantation... I would guess it's 40's/50's? Definitely appears to be much later than the typical postcards and other ephemera that sometimes turn up from here... Check out those tapa cloth patterned table tops!! Not entirely sure how long the Tahitian Room was there... I grew up in the Quad Cities, and my parents remember going to the Plantation in the late 60's/early 70's. The entire place wasn't tropical-themed, just the Tahitian room. The mansion is still there... sadly I think there's a bank in the building now. When I was a kid, it had become Velie's... a nice restaurant, but in a bland-ish 80's way. Not Tiki, but definitely in the same classic nightlife spirit, was Marando's Supper Club, formerly The Tropics, in nearby Milan, IL (where my folks currently live.) Classic mid-century entertainment was the norm there - Guy Lambardo, Jimmy Dorsey, Clyde McCoy... you get the idea - as well as a hidden gambling room. Decor was more tropical South Pacific/Cuban night club than Tiki; My parents fondly remember going to Marando's with my grandparents, adjoining to the delightfully named (but sadly, also not Tiki, according to my parents) Tamboo Tavern down the road. You can see some fun stuff from Marando's here: http://www.marandosrestaurant.com/ The Quad Cities was not an especially exciting place when I grew up there in the 80's/90's, so it's really quite cool to see some things turn up from these fantastic classic places I've heard my parents talk about my whole life. Sadly, there seems to be little to no information or photographic evidence of them floating around on the internets... You don't know what you got 'til it's gone, I guess.. --Pete

A friend of mine sent me this excellent interior photo of the Tahitian Room at the Plantation...
I would guess it's 40's/50's? Definitely appears to be much later than the typical postcards and other ephemera that sometimes turn up from here...

Check out those tapa cloth patterned table tops!!

Not entirely sure how long the Tahitian Room was there... I grew up in the Quad Cities, and my
parents remember going to the Plantation in the late 60's/early 70's. The entire place wasn't
tropical-themed, just the Tahitian room. The mansion is still there... sadly I think there's a bank in the building now. When I was a kid, it had become Velie's... a nice restaurant, but in a bland-ish 80's way.

Not Tiki, but definitely in the same classic nightlife spirit, was Marando's Supper Club, formerly The Tropics, in nearby Milan, IL (where my folks currently live.) Classic mid-century entertainment was the norm there - Guy Lambardo, Jimmy Dorsey, Clyde McCoy... you get the idea - as well as a hidden gambling room. Decor was more tropical South Pacific/Cuban night club than Tiki; My parents fondly remember going to Marando's with my grandparents, adjoining to the delightfully named (but sadly, also not Tiki, according to my parents) Tamboo Tavern down the road. You can see some fun stuff from Marando's here:
http://www.marandosrestaurant.com/

The Quad Cities was not an especially exciting place when I grew up there in the 80's/90's, so it's really quite cool to see some things turn up from these fantastic classic places I've heard my parents talk about my whole life. Sadly, there seems to be little to no information or photographic evidence of them floating around on the internets...

You don't know what you got 'til it's gone, I guess..

--Pete

Post #759430 by Ragbag Comics on Sat, Feb 20, 2016 12:37 PM